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Kurdish dreams, Mideast realities
17.3.2008
By Gunes Murat Tezcur
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March 17, 2008
In an increasingly globalised world, few places
symbolise state power and security challenges more
than the border zone between Turkey and *Iraqi
Kurdistan. Whether this border will blossom with
commerce and cultural exchange, or become a transit
point for tanks and militants, has great
implications for the future of the Middle East and
the relationship between the Muslim world and the
West.
Turkey's strong reactions to rising Kurdish
nationalism thus far only aggravate the feelings of
alienation among its Kurdish-speaking population.
Turkey's recent offensive against Kurdish rebels in
northern Iraq prompted Kurdistan's Prime Minister
Nechirvan Birzani to question whether the Turkish
government was actually trying to target more than
just the Kurdish rebels.
In order for the vision of a blossoming and peaceful
border to become a reality, Turkey and other
regional states with sizeable Kurdish populations
need to extend full recognition to Kurdish demands
for greater cultural and political rights. In turn,
Kurdish nationalism needs to recognise the
geo-political reality by eschewing the goal of
rewriting the prevailing borders and denouncing
armed struggle.
Tragedy has marked the history of Kurdish
nationalism, which was too embryonic and feeble to
challenge the political agreements, following World
War I, which divided Kurdish-speaking people under
the sovereignty of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
In Turkey, Kurdish nationalism seeks autonomy, not
secession, as most Kurds there have stakes in the
economic and political system and seek improvements
in their civic and political rights rather than
separation. Nonetheless, they still admire the
symbolic achievements of Iraqi Kurdistan: the
tri-colour Kurdish flag with a blazing golden sun at
its centre,www.ekurd.net
public rituals honouring
Kurdish heroes, and the adoption of Kurdish as the
official language. Such expressions of cultural and
political identity face legal persecution and
administrative hurdles in Turkey, however, despite
constitutional and legal reforms since the late
1990s.
Turkey is increasingly worried about the growing
assertiveness of Iraqi Kurds and perceives Kurdish
control over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk as a threat
to its national security. Turkish concerns are
broadly shared by Iran and Syria, countries that are
fearful of political activism among their own
Kurdish citizens. Furthermore, Arab states are
suspicious that the US-led war in Iraq will
ultimately create an oil-rich, pro-Western and
independent (in all but name) Kurdistan, threatening
their claim to the area's oil supply.
Iraqi Kurds have actively collaborated with the
United States since the invasion and brought much
needed relief to military efforts in the northern
zone. The United States also plays the ethnic card
against Iran by providing support to Kurdish
insurgents.
The United States now has a bigger responsibility to
find a modus vivendi regarding the question of
Kirkuk oil. It is an open secret that a referendum
on the fate of Kirkuk mandated by the Iraqi
constitution will make the city part of the Kurdish
region. However, regional powers including Turkey
and Syria will not accept the outcome unless they
are given firm guarantees that Kirkuk oil will
remain under the control of the Iraqi federal
government.
The revival of Kurdish nationalism presents a unique
challenge to the prevailing political order in the
region as well as US policy towards the Middle East.
It will require great political acumen and
diplomatic skill on the part of US leaders to
navigate between the opposing demands of the Iraqi
Kurds and their neighbours without leaving another
legacy of "neo-imperialism" in the region. To do
this, they must develop a comprehensive policy that
entails confidence-building measures, including a
pledge from Turkey not to invade Iraqi Kurdistan,
Iraqi Kurdish guarantees to cut support to Kurdish
militants fighting Turkey and a settlement on Kirkuk
oil.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
khaleejtimes com
The contents of this article reflect the author's
personal opinions
* Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule
in part of the country. Today's teenagers are the
first generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In
the new Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as
Kurdistan region. Kurdistan region has all the
trappings of an independent state -- its own
constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its
own army, its own border, its own border patrol, its
own national anthem, its own education system, its
own International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in Big
Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise
with the Kurdish PKK for a Kurdish homeland in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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